Kneepad for wear



Sept. 22, 1953 w, Mao 2,652,565

KNEEPAD FOR WEAR Filed May 27, 1952 A v m A w. VJ

/ AT'FORNEW [4' Patented Sept. 22, 1953 UNITED STATES FAKE? @EHQE KNEEPAD FOR WEAR Application May 27, 1952, Serial No. 290,138 In Great Britain June 22, 1951 1 Claim.

This invention relates to improvements in knee pads for wear, being more particularly applicable to knee pads for wear by miners and outside workers.

The primary object of this invention is to provide a knee pad which will protect the bursa pad of the wearers knee when he is obliged to kneel at his work and which is not liable to retain particles of grit, dust and the like between the wearers knee and the knee pad.

A. knee pad according to the invention comprises a cluster of peripherally spaced arcuate resilient members, the outer peripheries of the arcs lying on an imaginary synclastically curved surface, and rods or the like penetrating said arcuate members adjacent to the ends thereof and serving as connecting elements holding said arcuate members together.

A practical embodiment of my invention is illustrated in the accompanying drawings in which:

Fig. 1 is a side perspective view of a knee pad secured around the knee of a wearer.

Fig. 2 is a view corresponding to Fig. 1, the knee of the wearer being bent.

Fig. 3 is a cross-sectional view of the knee pad before the knee of the wearer is placed on the ground.

Fig. 4 is a view corresponding to Fig. 3, the weight of the wearer being applied to the knee pad on the ground.

Referring to the drawings, a plurality of peripherally spaced arcuate resilient members I are arranged in a cluster. Rods 2 penetrate the arcuate members I adjacent to the ends thereof and serve as connecting elements holding said arcuate members I together.

A washer 3 is disposed on each end of each rod 2 and is held in position by a split pin 4 inserted through a transverse hole in the rod 2.

The arcuate members I are elliptical or approximately elliptical in cross-section, as shown in Fig. 3. Considering the position of the major axes and the minor axes of the ellipses on a plane normal to the arcuate members, the major axes are directed towards the ground and the minor axes are parallel to the rods.

The arcuate members I may be of sponge rubber, but are preferably constituted by tubes of compounded rubber, natural or synthetic, or of rubber substitute, or they may be of resilient plastic.

The knee pad is adapted to be adjustably secured around the knee 5 of the wearer by means of a pair of removable straps 6 attached to the rods 2.

In effect, the arcuate resilient members I form together an archway comprising a row of halfhoops having a common curvilinear axis, the ends of the half-hoops being joined by the rods or the like 2 approximately parallel to said axis.

In practice, when the weight of the wearer is applied to the knee pad, the return bend of each arcuate member l is compressed against the ground, as shown in Fig. 4, and is so far flattened that the flattened portions or" adjacent members i meet to provide a seal against the entrance of particles of grit, dust and the like; the tubular members also acting as a cushion against any roughness of the ground.

When the weight of the wearer is no longer applied to the knee pad, the several arcuate memhers I spring back to their original relationship, as shown in Fig. 3, and particles of grit, dust and the like that may have succeeded in entering between the wearers knee 5 and the knee pad fall out or are sprung out through th gaps between adjacent arcuate members I.

The described construction of knee pad combats three of the main causes of bursitis, beat knee, or housemaids knee, which are namely:

A blow on the bursa pad.

Pressure and friction caused by grit, dust and the like beneath the bursa pad.

Prolonged pressure on the bursa pad.

The construction in such that the wearer can adjust the knee pad so that this bursa pad will rest between or on at least two of the arcuate members I.

What is claimed is:

A knee pad for wear comprising a row of laterally spaced independent tubes of rubber disposed in side by side relationship and curved approximately in the form of arcs to constitute a synclastically curved arch, stiff connecting elements respectively penetrating said tubes transversely near the ends of said tubes, and straps for securing the pad to the wearer connected to the end portions of said connecting elements.

KENNETH BASIL WITHY MACLELLAN.

Country Date Germany June 20, 1938 Number 

